Cockroaches hide by day and feed at night. In Radford's tightly built streets they can move between kitchens and shop units without anyone seeing them.
Cockroaches are nocturnal. If you are seeing one in daylight, there are usually many more out of sight. They like warm, damp, dark places such as behind cookers, under sinks, inside appliance motors and in gaps beside pipes. They feed on almost anything, from crumbs and grease to pet food and cardboard.
The first sign is often not an insect at all. Look for small dark droppings like pepper grains, a musty smell, or egg cases tucked into corners.
Radford has dense Victorian terraced streets and a long industrial history, and many buildings have been converted or divided over the years. Service pipes, shared walls and ducts connect more spaces than people realise. Cockroaches can move between flats, houses and shop units along them, so a problem in one kitchen can appear in the next.
They also travel in deliveries, boxes, second-hand appliances and bags. A secondhand fridge or a crate from a supplier can bring them in without any hygiene failing at all.
In a cafe, takeaway or shop kitchen, cockroaches are a food safety issue and can put your business at risk with environmental health officers. Record what you find, keep the area clean and avoid ad hoc spraying that makes insects scatter. We offer a commercial division with free surveys and a free written inspection report, which is useful evidence if an inspector asks what you are doing about it.
If you manage a small kitchen, keep a simple log of what you see and when. Note where droppings turn up, which appliances were moved and when deliveries arrived. That record helps the technician decide where to concentrate treatment, and it shows an inspector that you are taking the matter seriously. Staff awareness is the simplest long-term protection: everyone who opens the back door should know what a cockroach looks like and who to tell.
A technician will identify the species, find where they are hiding and treat those areas. Follow-up visits are usual, because eggs hatch after the first treatment. How many are needed depends on the size of the infestation and how easily the insects can spread from neighbouring units.
Call 0115 937 5117 to talk it through and we will arrange a survey of the kitchen or premises.
Not always. They can arrive in deliveries, boxes or second-hand appliances, or move between connected properties. Cleanliness helps, but a clean kitchen can still have a problem.
Cockroach eggs are protected in cases and hatch after the first treatment. A follow-up visit deals with newly hatched nymphs, and the number of visits depends on how established the problem is.
Tell us what you have seen and where, and we will come back to you. Prices are fixed and there is no call-out charge.
